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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/4/2013 10:27:39 AM

State Department spent $630,000 on Facebook likes

Seal of the U.S. Department of State

Seal of the U.S. Department of State

A newly released report from the U.S. State Department reveals that the government agency spent approximately $630,000 on acquiring Facebook likes.

Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the State Department, addressed the concerns in a press conference on Wednesday morning. She explained the State Department is now spending far less on advertising. Whereas the department was spending $315,000 a year, it is now spending $36,000 a year, according to Paski.

"Online advertising has significantly decreased," Paski said. "It’s now at $2,500 a month, and that still allows us to reach out and communicate with a wide range of individuals living overseas."

The 57-page report, prepared by the State Department's inspector general, says the agency's spending resulted in an increase in the bureau's likes on the popular social network, going from around 100,000 to over 2 million within two years.

"The bureau spent about $630,000 on the two campaigns and succeeded in increasing the fans of the English Facebook pages from about 100,000 to more than 2 million for each page. Advertising also helped increase interest in the foreign language pages; by March 2013, they ranged from 68,000 to more than 450,000 fans."

"Many in the bureau criticize the advertising campaigns as 'buying fans' who may have once clicked on an ad or 'liked' a photo but have no real interest in the topic and have never engaged further," the inspector general reported.

Indeed, while the number of likes increased dramatically, the engagement did not. According to the report, just over 2 percent of the fans actively liked, shared or commented on an item within the previous week.

From the State Department report:

"Engagement on each posting varied, and most of that interaction was in the form of 'likes.' Many postings had fewer than 100 comments or shares; the most popular ones had several hundred."

So, basically, the State Department had a lot more fans for its series of sites, but those fans weren't exactly acting like fans. The report also mentioned that the effort to get more likes didn't connect with the "bureau's target audience, which is largely older and more influential than the people liking its pages," according to theWashington Examiner.

But, the inspector general wrote, engagement might not be the answer.

"The bureau could reduce spending and increase strategic impact by focusing its advertising not on raising overall fan numbers or general engagement statistics but on accomplishing specific PD [public diplomacy] goals."

Things got worse once Facebook changed the way it handles users' news feeds, according to the report.

"In September 2012, Facebook changed the way it displays items in its users’ news feeds. If a user does not interact with a site’s postings, after a time these postings will no longer appear in the user’s news feed unless the site buys sponsored story ads to ensure their appearance. This change sharply reduced the value of having large numbers of marginally interested fans and means that IIP [Bureau of International Information Programs] must continually spend money on sponsored story ads or else its 'reach' statistics will plummet."

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/4/2013 10:34:41 AM

Extreme Weather Heats Up Northern Nevada



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Reno, Nev., during the June 2013 heat wave.

As unseasonably warm temperatures continue to stall in the triple digits in large parts of the western United States, Yahoo asked residents to share their heat wave experiences. Here's one.

FIRST PERSON | RENO, Nev. -- The heat is doing more than making Reno-area residents sweat. As temperatures soar in northern Nevada, so does the chance of wildfires and heat-related injuries.

With record-high temperatures reaching 105 earlier this week, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory until at least 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Many residents are staying inside or taking to the water to cool down.

"I get up and water my yard at 8 a.m. and then stay inside with the air conditioning going all day," said Sparks resident Glenna Gish. "It is too hot to go anywhere or do anything."

Gish, who has lived in Sparks since 1977, said this heat wave is the worst she has ever experienced. "I can't remember it ever being this hot here," she said.

Desiree McErquiaga Gray of Reno agreed. She said that she stays inside and has a Lifetime-Channel-a-Thon, watching sappy movies for hours on end.

If she has to go out she takes her kids to the Bowers Mansion Pool in New Washoe City or hits Yogurt Beach for a cool treat.

"I go kayaking or paddle boarding at Lake Tahoe," said Reno resident Christopher Foreman.

The Truckee River is also a hot spot for young and old alike. However, two people have already drowned after entering its cool but unpredictable waters on Tuesday.

Along with northern Nevada's sweltering heat comes the afternoon wind, thunderstorms, and possible brush fires and flash flooding.

Since Sunday, a fire has burned 96 acres near Silver City (the Pedlar Fire) and 5,400 acres have been consumed in the Red Rock Fire north of Reno.

For those avoiding the smoky skies and afternoon storms, their homes provide a safe haven from the heat.

"As long as the air conditioner keeps on cooling, I'll be fine, " said Gish's husband, Don.

And so far that has not been an issue yet.

"Fortunately, the heat has not caused any service issues. NV Energy has adequate resources to serve the company's 324,000 electric customers in northern Nevada," NV Energy spokesman Karl Walquist said.


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/4/2013 10:40:06 AM

Alaska Gets Baked: Record Heat Has Its Consequences




Sunny skies on an Alaskan beach

As unseasonably warm temperatures continue to stall in the triple digits in large parts of the western United States, Yahoo asked residents to share their heat wave experiences. Here's one.

FIRST PERSON | While most of the United States may find temperatures in the mid-80s comfortable, for my town, Sterling, in south central Alaska, it's like being a fish on the fire--literally, because many of the fish-belly white residents have burned badly.

My husband, three boys, and I have enjoyed the sunshine andrecord-breaking temperatures with a few rare warm-lake swims, but personally we'd love to see more wind and rain, and not just because we're melting and considering shaving our giant Malamute dog.

The extreme heat hitting our state brings high risk for forest fires, especially with the flood of inexperienced campers that ride in with the summer tourist season. The warm weather has also made the climate more enjoyable for the Asian Tiger mosquito.

As an Alaskan, I'm no stranger to the large, slow-flying, night-biters our cool 55- to 60-degree summers often breed, but the warmer-weather, faster-flying Asian variety bite voraciously during the day. Our home on five acres in the backwoods is overrun, and as we aren't used to this variety of bites, we are suffering severe allergic reactions on top of the sunburn. An especially hot summer can also mean an upturn in invasive species, such as ticks from the lower 48 states, plant species that may prove disastrous to the salmon industry, and poisonous spider species that normally cannot survive even if they hitch a ride in freight or on travelers.

It's the dangerous side of a little too much sunshine in the land of the midnight sun that has my family, and many others, flip-flopping between sheer joy for some real sunshine and quiet wishes for more rain.

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/4/2013 10:44:38 AM

In Prescott, Ariz., It's Heat, Drought, and Fire After Fire






In Prescott, Ariz., It's Heat, Drought, and Fire After Fire
Planting beds reserved for cucumbers stand empty as high heay and extremely low humidity make it impossible for the fruit to survive.


As unseasonably warm temperatures continue to stall in the triple digits in large parts of the western United States, Yahoo asked residents to share their heat wave experiences. Here's one.

FIRST PERSON | Hot and dry simply doesn't describe what's happening in here in Yavapai County, Ariz. Our area has been making national headlines lately because of the Doce Fire at Granite Mountain, and the far more deadly Yarnell Hill Fire that claimed the lives of 19 of our friends and neighbors. What hasn't been making the news are the dozens of smaller fires that have been popping up every day. The skies are almost constantly filled with smoke to some degree. Thin smoke for the ones farther away, and thicker smoke for the ones that are close by.

It's no surprise to any of us here in Chino Valley, a tiny town just north of Prescott. My family gave up weeks ago on the idea of having a fall harvest this year. Our fruit trees normally produce a few thousand pears, apples, and almonds. But this year the trees are barren. There's barely been enough water to keep them alive, much less support a crop. The pine trees in the wind break that barely survived last year's drought don't look like they're going to make it this year.

We've been running our well pump for 18 hours a day, every day, just to keep the fruit trees alive. The only reason we turn it off at night is to allow the aquifer to refill so we don't start pulling sand. We've had volunteers out from the Kindred Spirits Fun and Service Club to help pamper our orchard and paint the trees to give them a fighting chance against the sun.

Last night my mother and I made the painful decision to go ahead and begin cutting down all of our cottonwood trees. They're dying, and we simply don't have the water resources to keep them alive. They've become a fire hazard, and we've had enough fires lately. All of our efforts have been centered on saving the fruit trees, and the cover crops that keep the dust down and the dirt in place.

Right now, a rainstorm is moving through-- the first real rain storm of the summer. All we can do is hope and pray that it does any good for the men and women still fighting the Yarnell Hills blaze just a few scant miles away. It came too late for our farm. It came too late for our neighbors in Yarnell.

And even though it's raining now, it's also still hot outside. It's going to take a lot more than this one little rain storm to make a difference in conditions here.


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
7/4/2013 10:56:42 AM

‘No girls allowed’: Iraq war vet Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on opening combat missions to women

Top Line

Ask Rep. Tulsi Gabbard why she supports the military’s new policy to allow women to serve in combat roles, and the Iraq war veteran speaks from experience.

“I can tell you during my deployment, there were missions that I-- volunteered for and was not allowed to go on, simply because I'm a woman,” Gabbard, D-Hawaii, tells Top Line. “They said, ‘Sorry, no. No girls allowed.’”

Gabbard served in Iraq and says the military’s policy shift is much more than symbolic.

“What we see in the policy change now…is just a reflection of what women have already been doing in the military,” she says. “And it'll now open those doors so that we can have women serving in positions of leadership and within units where previously they were not allowed.”

Gabbard also brings a first-hand perspective to the issue of sexual assault in the military, saying she “heard and saw incidents” of sexual assault within her military camp when she was in Iraq.

“We got issued rape whistles so that as we walk out of our tent or walk out of our hooch, we've got our body armor, we've got our helmet, our weapon, and we've got our rape whistle,” Gabbard recalls. “It was an eye-opening experience to have to consider that fact when we're serving overseas in Iraq and…this is a risk or a danger that exists.”

On Capitol Hill, Gabbard, a freshman representative at age 32, says she sees a “great opportunity” to work with “the next generation of leaders being elected.”

She adds that there’s a “collective impatience” among younger members of Congress, and she has joined the United Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan caucus composed of mostly young, rising representatives.

“It's been relationship-building, but also very substantive to say, hey, in these issues of job creation, of healthcare, of reducing the deficit, we've got to be able to find areas that we can agree on,” Gabbard says of the caucus.

For more of the interview with Gabbard, and to hear why she says sexual assault is undermining the military’s values, check out this episode of Top Line.

ABC's Cindy Smith, John Parkinson, Eric Wray, Alexandra Dukakis, Betsy Klein and Dick Norling contributed to this episode.

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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